Matt Campbell made Cyclones relevant. Penn State is his reward | Hines
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There are any number of moments you could pick from Matt Campbell’s 10 years leading the Iowa State football program as the most emblematic or iconic or memorable of his tenure.
Maybe it was his recounting of how he became enchanted with Iowa State when he brought his Toledo team there in 2014. Everyone loves the 66-10 thrashing the Cyclones gave Patrick Mahomes and Texas Tech in 2016, of course. The 2017 win at Oklahoma that seemed to change everything would be near the top of the list.
Campbell hoisting the Fiesta Bowl trophy after the 2020 season may be the greatest moment in Iowa State football history, really, but his sobbing at Senior Day a year later might be Campbell at his rawest and most vulnerable.
For me, though, what I’ll remember for defining Campbell’s tenure is what he said in the locker room after Iowa State defeated No. 4 TCU for the program’s sixth and bowl-eligibility-clinching win of the 2017 season.
“Bull(crap) programs,” Campbell said to his team, “care about 6-6.”
When Campbell came to Iowa State, the Cyclones cared about 6-6, and, truthfully, probably fit his description of a program that would.
Over a decade, Campbell — steadily, intentionally and unrelentingly — turned Iowa State into a program dismissive not only of mere bowl eligibility but anything short of championship aspirations.
Bull(crap), no more.
Now, though, no more Campbell.
The winningest, most accomplished and, by nearly any measure, best coach in Iowa State football history is now the coach of Penn State football.
It’s the type of ending Iowa State fans both dreaded and envisioned for the better part of a decade as Campbell piled up wins and accolades along with his own job opportunities, only to turn them down and return to Ames time and again.
Eventually, though, enough, it seems, was enough.
Only Campbell will be able to say why, exactly, Penn State is the right program and why, exactly, right now is the time for this move, but it’s not hard to guess at the broad strokes.
After 10 years climbing “the rough side of the mountain,” as Campbell so often said, a chance for a chauffeured ride to the summit was probably enticing.
Penn State has the tradition, resources, ambition and right league affiliation to make Campbell’s pursuit of championships not necessarily easier, but more realistic. It used to be said that recruiting was the “lifeblood” of any good college football program. Now, increasingly and unhaltingly, it’s money that makes and sustains a program.
The Nittany Lions have a lot of it, are only going to get more and they’re willing to commit that cash toward winning a lot of football games.
Penn State will easily be able to double Campbell’s $5 million Iowa State salary, but it will be their ability to fund rosters that I’m guessing most appealed to Campbell. The Nittany Lions spent big in pursuit of a title in 2025, and, with expectations in Happy Valley unchanged and with a new face in charge of the football program, I would expect that spending to continue in 2026 and beyond.
Penn State is desperate for a national championship. That’s why James Franklin was fired this fall despite tremendous success and a monstrous buyout. To succeed where Franklin failed, Campbell almost assuredly has been promised NIL riches for players not only to the upper limit of what an athletic department can do with its revenue sharing, but in the above-the-cap dollars that have become the new measuring stick for institutional commitment.
The above-the-cap spending is something of a gray area in terms of NCAA compliance, but it is quickly becoming table stakes for programs that are serious about contending nationally. That’s Penn State.
Iowa State, meanwhile, does not operate in that gray area. Getting the Cyclones to the maximum-allowable revenue-sharing cap is a chore in itself. The university has shown little-or-no appetite for pursuing those extra outside dollars for more expensive and, theoretically, talented rosters.
Campbell and the Cyclones were walking a high-wire with their success despite lacking in NIL funding. Campbell said so himself this past summer when he noted his best players took less money to stay at Iowa State rather than to transfer elsewhere.
How long, you have to imagine Campbell wondering, is that sustainable?
Penn State simply is operating in a different stratosphere than Iowa State when it comes to funding its football program.
The other piece to consider here is that the Big Ten offers a safe haven for whatever comes next in college sports.
It is the most lucrative league in the country and No. 1B with the SEC at 1A as the powerbrokers in the sport. The Big Ten provides the money that will be needed in this new era, and it provides the access to whatever shape the sport takes in the future.
The Big Ten and SEC have been moving further and further away from their counterparts – if you can even call them that at this point – and it doesn’t take grand powers of prognostication to predict a day when they break away from the NCAA for their own pursuits. That would leave the Big 12 (and everyone else) mortally wounded.
Penn State is, inarguably, a “better” job than Iowa State in almost any measure.
What made Campbell so special is that for so long, he had little interest in “better jobs.” He only cared about making it work at Iowa State, whether it was the NFL, the SEC or other suitors that came calling over the last 10 years.
Campbell wanted that rough side of the mountain. He wanted a place where he could build a football program in his own image. He relished and thrived as the underdog.
It was a journey not without its challenges, with a four-win 2022 season followed by the gambling scandal in 2023 to create a true nadir before the redemption of 2024’s 11-win season. Through it all, though, Iowa State football seemed to emerge stronger than ever.
He claimed 72 wins, most in school history. He put the Cyclones in a conference championship game for the first time in program history and then did it again four years later. He delivered the first January bowl appearance and victory. He turned Iowa State into a development pipeline to the NFL. He was the architect of two of the best seasons in program history.
There were big games, huge wins and momentous achievements.
None, though, bigger than making Iowa State football something you could believe in. Something you could trust. Something that rewarded hope with results.
You can say a lot about Iowa State football, but, now that Matt Campbell’s through with it, you can’t say they’re the type of program that cares about 6-6.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Matt Campbell reward for Iowa State run? Penn State resources | Hines
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